The Ballad of Mai Taniyama
by w0nderland5
Summary: Three years have passed since the group at Shibuya Psychic Research disbanded. To Mai Taniyama, the years had not been kind. Struggling with graduating high school, several past due bills, and her recently developed insomnia, the pressure becomes too much for her, and she decides to take matters into her own hands and do what she had wanted to do for several months. Die.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Or whatever's left of you! Lol I haven't been on here since like 2014 but I got a new story that popped in my head randomly so I figured why not upload it? No harm in doing that, right? I'll admit, I do feel bad about leaving you guys hanging and everything, but shit happens, ya know? I'm a pretty inconsistent person so most of my stories will be short and with little plot. That's why I tend to do little one shots and stuff of that sort, but I get good feed back on them so I guess I'm not doing horribly.**

 **Aaaanyway, just wanted to say hi and thanks to anyone who's still around! I really appreciate you!**

 _Naru : It's rather unprofessional to leave your readers for a year, without an __explanation. It is hard to fathom that my author lacks basic manners._

 **Uhm, excuse me sir, didn't you leave your ENTIRE TEAM for a year, with zero warning, and no time for them to prepare what to do after you left? Check your privilege boy.**

 _Naru_ _:_ _My brother died._

 **Oh yeah forgot about that. My bad Naru-chan. 3**

 _Naru : Kiss my ass. _

_Mai : Glad to see you two back at it again._

 **Anyway, enjoy guys, and _please_ review even if it's just a "hey this is shit" lemme know so I can determine if I should post more or not. Don't wanna waste our time here, yeah?**

* * *

Mai opened her eyes and sucked in a deep breath. Her eyes darted about frantically, failing to see much in the dark of her bedroom. It seemed to have been around three or four in the morning, but time was lost to her. All that Mai knew was that she needed a drink.

In the recently months following the drop of her grades, her lack of sleep, and failing to keep up her friendships, Mai developed a rather frowned upon way of coping: alcohol. Was it a rational way to deal with her problems? No. Was it beneficial to helping her overcome the obstacles in her life? No.

But hell, it felt good.

Drinking eased a wave of calm over her whenever she felt she was drowning in her problems, and to her, an escape from them was welcomed at any cost.

As she sat up, Mai striped off her sweat-soaked t-shirt and pulled on a sports bra she found at the foot of her bed. Her legs swung over the side and she stood up slowly, her body aching from exhaustion. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she walked out to the kitchen. Mai made her way over to the sink and turned on the cold water, rinsing her face with shaking hands and drying it off with a nearby towel. She draped the towel over the edge of the sink and reached up to the cabinet above her and grabbing a small glass. She reached to her right and picked up an unopened bottle of cheap vodka that she had bought just a few days prior. She placed the unscrewed cap on the counter next to her and she moved the open bottle to the cup with the intention to fill it, but stopped. Mai stood staring at the glass in consideration before deciding that she didn't want it. She left the glass on the counter and slid down to her kitchen floor, taking a swig of the potent drink. She felt the welcomed warmth travel down her throat as she cringed and took another gulp.

She let out a heavy sigh and put the bottle down next to her. She pulled her knees to her chest, and rubbed her forehead with her hand. Why had things been getting so bad again? She was on medication for her insomnia, and she was seeing the doctor regularly for her depression, so why wasn't anything working? At which point did her mind decide that getting four or less hours of sleep a night was okay? When did it think that filling those four hours with horrible nightmares was acceptable? The doctors said that it would get better over time, but Mai knew that they were just giving her false hopes.

Mai groaned and leaned her head back on the counter. She opened her eyes and glanced back down at the bottle of clear liquid. She knew her limit when it came to the stuff, but tonight she didn't care to stop.

"Fuck it," she said to herself as she snatched it up and took a couple gulps of vodka. Her face contorted in a grimace as the burn of the drink took over her mouth and throat. Mai coughed a bit and stretched her legs out as she placed the bottle between them and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She sat on the floor for about ten minutes before she began to feel the effects of the drink beginning. Mai felt the alcohol slowly taking over her system, but decided to stand up, albeit struggling a bit. With the bottle in hand, she shuffled over to her couch, and plopped down on it with a groan and a small lackadaisical smile. She started to chuckle to herself for no apparent reason before noticing the blinking light on the coffee table. She stared at the little blue light for a few seconds before realizing that it was her cell phone letting her know she had gotten a text message. Mai leaned forward and placed one hand on the coffee table while the other snatched up the phone. She sat back down, and after a few tries at her password, finally got her phone's messages up.

Two of the messages were from Michiru, her best friend since junior high, asking her if she wanted to go to a party on Saturday, and one correcting a typo she had in the previous one. Looking back at the first message, Mai took another swig from the quarter empty bottle and contemplated if she wanted to go out with her or not. She replied clumsily, but not too bad that Michiru would be able to tell that she was drunk, and told her friend that she hadn't been feeling well and that she was going to stay home to rest up.

"Sorry, Mich, I'm gonna have to be lame," she said with a giggle. "Don't want to waste a perfectly good weekend on a party when I could just stay home and drink."

Mai sent the message and scrolled down to the next unread one. It was from Bou-san. He and Ayako were really the only ones that she had stayed in touch with after SPR broke up. Despite the group disbanding three years prior, Ayako made it very clear that they weren't going to forget about her. Every couple weeks she and Bou-san would invite her over for dinner to catch up, but recently that hadn't been the case. It had been a few months since she'd last seen them, but they did often call or text to see how her life was. She would lie about how she was failing school, not sleeping, and developing a drinking habit, but they didn't really need to know all that. If there was anything that she'd want for them it would be for them to not have to worry about her at all. Mai knew that if she vented to Monk, or especially Ayako, they would be up here bombarding her with concern and trying to change her current lifestyle. Not only would that be rather annoying for her, but it would also just make her another burden in their lives. With the recent birth of their son Haji, Mai knew that the last thing they needed was the stress of her life too.

The message read, " _Hi Mai, it's me again, just wanted to see if you're alright. Haven't heard from you in a couple weeks so we're starting to worry a bit, but I'm sure you've just been busy with school and grown up life and what not LOL. Anyway give us a call when you can, we do miss you, you know_."

Mai sighed and dropped her hand in her lap. She closed her eyes and leaned her head on the back of the couch. What lie would she tell them this time? That she had good grades? A stable job? A well kept social life? What a load of shit. She really hated having to lie to them, but Mai knew it was better off for both parties if she kept up this facade of stability she had going. Part of her wanted to tell them everything, let them know that she was struggling and stressed and couldn't sleep if her life depended on it, but the other part of her knew better. She knew that the minute she said something was wrong they'd be down here coddling her like they should be with Haji. Mai knew they didn't mean any ill will, but the last thing she wanted right now were people hovering over her making changes in her life that they thought were for her betterment. Right now, all she wanted was to be left completely alone and have peace and quiet and not have to live up to the expectations and standards anyone had for her.

She opened her eyes and looked back down at her phone. Mai contemplated sending a reassuring message explaining that she had just been busy with school and work, but realized that it must now be pretty early in the morning and would look suspicious if she sent it now. So, after taking another swallow of alcohol, she went to close out of her messages, when she noticed a very familiar, but saddening name. It wasn't odd that she happened to see it either because despite after the three years that SPR had broken up, Mai rarely talked to anyone other than Michiru and Bou-san. Looking at the short name caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over Mai and she could feel her eyes begin to tear up. The name Naru and had a small, red devil emoticon next to it that she chuckled at softly, despite the overwhelming sadness she felt. She contemplated sending him a message telling him just how much she hated him for leaving like he did, but even in her drunken state, knew that it would be pointless and terribly selfish. At any rate, he had more than likely changed numbers now that he was back in England, and even if he hadn't, he would by no means reply to her. Why would he? She had said such horrible things and made terrible accusations of him before finding out the real reason he was in Japan. After she found out about Gene, Mai could feel nothing but embarrassment and guilt at what she had done, but what she felt worse of all was sheer regret at ruining the relationship she had formed with him. She so coldly told him that he was being an "inconsiderate jerk" and a "selfish egomaniac" for leaving Japan under such short notice with little to no explanation. After so long of her yelling at him, he calmly explained why he had come here in the first place. She remembered with bitterness the feeling of realization and embarrassment of what she had said so heartlessly to him that it caused her pain several years after.

Mai blinked and noticed that she was crying. She placed the bottle of vodka down on the coffee table and wiped her eyes angrily. The more she tried to stop the flow of tears, the harder she found herself crying. Why did she fuck everything up so badly? Why did she stop caring about herself? Why did she willingly lose contact with the people she considered her family for the longest time? Why did she think pitying herself was going to make her feel better? She doubled over with sobs and placed her head in her hands while resting her elbows on her knees. Mai's head swam with annoying questions for a long while, and she eventually had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle her sobs so the neighbors didn't hear through the paper thin walls. She wanted things to go back to how they were in high school. She didn't want to feel like this all the time and have to fake her happiness for her friends anymore. She was so tired of everything.

Mai let out a shaky breath and sat up and rubbed her head. The world tilted as a combination of vodka and her severe lack of sleep took over her body and had to put a hand on the table to steady herself. Mai reached for the bottle of alcohol and forcefully chugged another few gulps, not even wincing this time. She let out a burst of coughs and dropped the bottle back down, nearly spilling it. She stood up and stumbled over to her shoes. She put them on slowly, since leaning down to do so was more than a little difficult, then snatched up her hoodie from the back of the door and struggled to put it on over her sports bra and leggings. Once she had finally gotten it on she took her phone, and a bottle of sleeping pills she got a few days prior, and crammed them into her pocket, then walked straight out of her apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Welp, I only got one review but I had this chapter already written so I'll just post it anyway. I honestly just make this shit up as I go along so whatever happens will be just as new to me as it is to you lol. Sorry for any typos, it's really late and I tried my best to proof read, but ya know. If you guys have any ideas or request as to how this turns out feel free to let me know. I check reviews and messages daily when I upload a new story so I'll more than likely see your input. I'm not forcing you guys to do so, so no worries if you don't, I don't mind! :)**

 _Naru : Honestly, are you trying to lose followers? Disappearing for a year, now not even bothering to proof read your own work? How do you even have followers left?_

 **Boy, don't you have anything better to do than to comment on my shit? You're a scientist, go blow some shit up or something.**

 _Naru_ _: I'm sure it slipped your...small...mind, but I'm just a figment of your imagination. Or have you forgotten that as well?_

 _Mai_ _: Naru! You leave her alone, she's doing her best to bring us back and all you do is argue with her! She is actually trying so stop being such a jerk!_

 _Naru : I am simply pointing out how she-_

 **That's it. I'm writing Yasu and you into an M rated fic if you don't shut up. Do you really wanna go lemon, _Naru-chan_?**

 _Mai : *stiffles a snort* ew oh my god._

 _Naru : *pretends to be reading and doesn't hear a word said*_

 **Yeah that's right...little punk ass...read your book. ANYWAY ENJOY.**

* * *

Clear summer nights used to be Mai's favorite, but recently she had seen way too much of them for her liking. Being awake for nearly 20 hours a day eventually ruined her love for the moon and starry night sky, making Mai even more depressed. The things she had once found happiness in had now become loathsome to the young girl. She hated that she hated it.

Mai shook her head and used the back of her hand to wipe tears off her face. She walked slowly so she didn't stumble over her own two feet, and took in the quiet stretch of road she was traveling. She had no idea why she was going where she was, but something in her gut pulled her toward the place of her past.

Looking around Mai saw there were hardly any cars on the street that night and took it as a blessing. Having people see her stumble down the sidewalk drunkenly would raise more attention than she cared to have at the moment.

She walked a bit farther before passing several shops lining the sidewalk and slowed down to look in the windows of each one. The first one she passed was a small western style pizza shop with a large, neon sign in the window, which read, Big Papa's Pizzeria. She laughed at the name, despite her tears, as she wondered who Big Papa was. Mai had always found the name to be out of character because she thought it sounded like it belonged to some gangster, not a pizza shop.

Moving past the store she walked a little farther until she stopped to admire another large window, this time belonging to a tea shop. It had been there for as long as Mai could remember, which truthfully was an impressive feat considering that most of the family owned stores on the street were bought out by larger companies nowadays. She always hated how they were constantly looking to expand wherever they could get their greedy little hands on. Didn't have enough of their crappy stores everywhere?

Mai was grateful this one was still here though. She had always loved the shop because every time she would walk in, the smell of tea would flood her senses and bring a welcomed calm over her. Any time she was feeling overwhelmed, stressed, sad, or anything of the sort she would come in here, buy a cup of the deliciously blended green tea and chamomile, and breathe a sigh of relief. She had savored every aspect of the shop. There wasn't really anything to dislike about it truth be told, the workers were all very nice and treated her kindly, the giant window in the front let in the perfect amount of warmth and sunlight, and the whole place had a unique and rustic charm. Mai smiled at the memory of the tea dates that she had with her friends, and especially the one she had eventually gotten out of Naru. She remembered that day so clearly it was unbelievable. She smiled softly, but felt more tears well up in her eyes at the thought of it.

 _"Okay Mai you can do this, the worse he can do is say no and call you an idiot.", Mai said stubbornly to herself while standing on the outside of her boss's door. She meant the statement as a means of encouragement, but it was not working very well however. Naru saying no to her request was actually the worst case scenario and Mai desperately didn't want that to happen._

 _Typically, Mai had never really requested an early leave, but the mountainous pile of homework that had developed in her school bag for the past few months was becoming unbearable. She knew if she wanted to graduate from the 11th grade with her friends she was going to have to get cracking. It wasn't as if she was a slacker or anything, but between work at SPR and maintaining normal everyday tasks like eating and sleeping, Mai was on a tight schedule, which meant school work had to be put on the back burner. The problem had grown so large in such short amount of time, so Mai valued every second of free time she could get her hands on._

 _Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Mai knocked on the office door._

 _"Hey Naru, I'm coming in."_

 _She never waited for an answer since she already knew one wouldn't come from the dark haired boy. As she peeked in and entered the room she was not surprised to see him typing away on his laptop, not acknowledging her presence in the least. She knew beating around the bush was futile so she just got straight to the point._

 _"Um, I've finished the filing for today and scheduled all the appointments so far this month so I'm going to leave a little early, if that's alright?"_

 _Still, unsurprisingly, Naru had no response and continued clacking away on his keyboard. Mai had feared he hadn't heard her so she timidly wandered closer and leaned down in front of his desk._

 _"Hey did you hea-"_

 _"Tea."_

 _Mai's eyes widened and she grew both flustered and annoyed. He had obviously heard and ignored her, choosing not to give her an answer at all. All he cared about was his stupid tea. Mai knew it was a risk tempting his attitude, but his demanding tone and ignoring of her question was extremely aggravating, so Mai stupidly rivaled his demand._

 _"I'll get you your tea when you answer my question."_

 _Naru paused his typing and glanced up at her though dark eyelashes with an unreadable face. She could see the hint of annoyance in his eyes. Mai immediately regretted her actions, but yet she held her ground._

 _Raising her eyebrows in expectation, she stared right back, not willing to back down from her self centered boss._

 _"You still have two hours left of your shift, you can manage for now. Or are you trying to look lazy in front of your employer?"_

 _Mai's face turned red, both with embarrassment and anger at the question. She was most certainly not being lazy. She was probably going to go home and pull yet another all-nighter, scrambling to complete homework and projects that were already past their due dates. She was overly tired and growing increasingly irritated, so her attitude slipped out even further._

 _"I am not being lazy, oh-so-lovely employer," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "I do however, have things that need to be done outside of work, and being here for another two hours with nothing left to do would be entirely pointless. Unless you_ want _to waste money on someone for just sitting around?"_

 _Still making eye contact she stood up straight and made a face mixed with determination and irritation. She wasn't going down easy._

 _He held her gaze for a moment before looking back down at his computer and continuing typing. "I have already given you my answer."_

 _Mai groaned in annoyance. Man she wanted to hit him sometimes. Eyes boring into the top of his skull, Mai knew her attitude wasn't going to do her any favors and it began to dissipate. All she wanted was to try and lower her current stress levels, but she knew he wasn't going to give in. She took a breath in to call him a jerk, but lost the urge rather quickly. She had a lump in her throat and she knew what that meant. She felt her eyes begin to water slightly. She looked down so her bangs covered her eyes and said in a much softer tone, "Naru I'm really begging you right now. I have a lot of stuff that needs done and between here and getting a decent amount of sleep I have a very small window to do so. I value every minute I get. So_ please _, I'll come in and do two hours of overtime tomorrow if I need to. I'll do anything."_

 _Naru looked up at her, still with a passive face, but with curiosity in his eyes. Seeing her head turned down, Naru took in her body language, seeing her slumped shoulders and tired appearance. Mai had rarely used that tone with him, especially when it came to asking for things. On and normal occasion they would bicker until she got overly annoyed and he would effectively ignore her. The fact that she lost her attitude rather quickly was a sign that something was wrong._

 _Naru looked down the instant she began to look up, but not before seeing her quickly wipe her eye._

 _Mai stared at him for a moment longer before realizing he was not going to answer her and turned away more distraught than before. She began to make her way to the door and when he spoke._

 _"Tea Mai," She_ really _wanted to hit him. All he cared about was his ridiculous tea. She turned back around and grabbed the door handle, ready to slam it shut, when he spoke again. "Then perhaps I'll let you leave."_

 _That was better than a no. Mai's mood uplifted and she smiled brightly, her teary eyes calming down. "Okay."_

 _She closed the door and released the breath she didn't realize she was holding. God she hoped he followed through._

 _She turned and made her way to the small kitchen and opened the cupboard to grab his favorite mug. He would certainly never admit to it, but she knew he had always favored the simple black mug she had gotten him for Christmas one year. It was the perfect size for a cup of tea and was comfortable to hold. She was pretty proud of herself that year._

 _Placing the cup down on the counter Mai filled the kettle with hot water and placed it on the burner. She waited a few minutes for it to boil and went to grab the strainer and tea leaves from the cabinet next to her when her heart skipped a beat; there was no more tea. How could there be no more tea? She had just bought a bag of the stuff two days ago! How could one person drink that much tea in two days, and how did she not notice?_

 _"No no no. Oh, come on, there has to be some in here somewhere."_

 _Mai rummaged around, moving boxes of crackers and coffee beans out of the way until she gave up and hung her head. She was never getting out of here. Mai rubbed her forehead with her hand with frustration and put the mug back in the cabinet._

 _Begrudgingly, she made her way back to the door to his room and really didn't want to go in. She took another deep breath and opened the door. He didn't look up of course, but Mai spoke anyway._

 _"U-Um Naru?"_

 _"Yes, Mai?"_

 _Oh sure, he answered her that time. "There's, uh, no more tea."_

 _He didn't respond immediately, which she was growing increasingly tired of, but eventually looked up after a couple seconds. "Is that so? Then I suppose we'll have to go get some more."_

 _Go get some? She wanted to go home not grocery shopping. She was tired and didn't want to have to pay out of pocket like he made her do every so often, and today was just the horribly perfect day for him to make her do so._

 _Then Mai's thoughts stopped. Did he say "we"?_

 _"Uh, I'm sorry did you say we? As in you and I? You're not going to say 'Mai go buy some tea, oh and by the way you'll pay for it out of your paycheck'?" She said in her best Naru impression which consisted of a deep voice and low frown._

 _Naru finished typing, closed his laptop, and stood up while grabbing his jacket. He put it on swiftly and walked toward her._

 _For some reason Mai took an instinctive step backwards, but that didn't phase the boy._

 _"Yes Mai. Or are you too stupid to understand simple sentences?" He said with snark. "Do you really want me to rethink this decision, because mocking your boss is not something to be rewarded with early leave."_

 _Mai stood there in surprise. Naru never went with her to get tea, which she expressed to him in shock._

 _"N-no!" Mai said a little too quickly, and she blushed as a result. She lowered her voice back to normal, but questioned his reason for wanting to go with her. "It's just...you never go with me when we're out of tea, why would you want to this time?"_

 _She watched him walked past her and out the door to his office, and she followed suit. He continued walking toward the front door, not bothering to turn around while responding._

 _"Well I certainly cannot let your idiocy go as far as buying the wrong tea, so accompanying you would clearly be for my own well-being." He looked at her and put his hands in his pockets, and watched in entertainment as her face went red with anger. "Besides, I can't maintain looks as good as mine if I sit behind a computer all day."_

 _Mai's anger went away and was replaced by an incredulous look at the remark._

 _"Stupid narcissist."_

 _Naru raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"_

 _Mai smiled a saccharine smile. "Oh nothing," she said with a wave of her hand. "But hold on and let me grab my things."_

 _She walked over to her desk and grabbed her jacket and school bag. She groaned slightly as she threw the bag over her shoulder, which did not go unnoticed by Naru, nor did the obscene size of the bag._

 _She walked over to the door and said with a smile, a real one this time, "Okay I'm ready."_

 _Naru opened the front door and Mai walked out behind him, turning off the lights on her way. He pulled out a set of keys and turned to lock the door._

 _"Thank you, Naru."_

 _She noticed that his hand paused very briefly, then quickly continued to lock the door and pocket the keys, walking out onto the sidewalk. Mai followed suit._

 _The walk down the street to the tea shop was a quiet one, but neither of them minded. The cool Autumn air gently blew Mai's hair around her face and she breathed its smell in deeply. Naru watched her out of the corner of his eye most of the walk. When they eventually got to the tea shop Mai smiled widely and walked in, holding the door for her boss._

 _Mai took in yet another deep breath and let out a contented sigh._

 _"People are going to think you are out of shape if you continue breathing like that." Naru said as he looked at the menu in front of them rather than the fuming brunette beside him._

 _She grumbled some insults and looked up at the menu, even though she already knew what she wanted. The green tea and chamomile blend that the shop had was her absolute favorite. It was sweet and tangy all at once and the warmth soothed her to the core. The manager behind the counter greeted them with a smile. He was an older man, in about his late fifties with snow white hair and kind, blue eyes. She had always liked the man and his ability to make her feel welcomed even when she was feeling her worst._

 _"Well hello there, Mai, glad to see your smiling face again. I see you brought a new friend today," He looked up at Naru with a kind smile. "And what might your name be young man?"_

 _Mai internally begged Naru not to be his typical cold self, but something must have been in the air today because he responded civilly to the older man._

 _"Kazuya Shibuya. Pleasure to meet you." He spoke in his usual monotonous tone, but said it with a nod of the head. Mai was grateful he was halfway decent. Usually it was annoying silence or a stoic stare from the rude boy._

 _Mai took the chance to introduce the older man. "Naru, this is Tamayuki-san, Tamayuki-san this is my boss." She smiled as he nodded her head in Naru's direction._

 _"Oh well isn't that a coincidence," the man said with a chuckle as Mai gave him a curious look. "A Shibuya working in the Shibuya district, that is. Must have been fate. I've heard much about your business from Mai here, she seems to really love working there."_

 _Naru's eyebrows raised ever so slightly as he looked down to see Mai's face turned pink as she chuckled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of her head._

 _Tamayuki-san looked back at Mai and chuckled with a wave of his hand. "Alright, alright, I'll stop embarrassing you. Now let me guess, the usual?"_

 _Mai's blush faded slightly, but was still noticeable as she responded with an eager nod. "Of course, you know how much I love your house blends."_

 _"I'm glad, people rarely order it anymore, and I was afraid we were going to have to stop making it, but you save the day Mai-chan." Tamayuki-san said with a warm smile._

 _Mai smiled in return, "I don't know what I'd do without it."_

 _She looked up at her boss with a smile still on her face and asked him what he wanted._

 _"I'll have black tea."_

 _"Alright one black tea, and Mai-chan's usual, coming right up. You two can go ahead and grab a seat and I'll bring it over for you shortly." Mai nodded in appreciation and said a quick thank you, then led Naru over to the table by the window. The seat had a perfect view of the quiet street and the leaves on the trees turning with the start of fall. She loved it here, this was her spot._

 _The two teens took off their coats and Mai set her bag next to her chair. Naru glanced at the counter._

 _"This is where you buy the tea from.", He said more as a statement rather than a question._

 _Mai grinned. "Yeah I love this place. They have the best tea in the whole district. I usually come here when I need to do school work," she looked down at her hands, but still smiled. "Or when I just need a break from stuff. It's my happy place I guess."_

 _Mai looked up and blushed when she saw Naru's dark blue eyes staring back at her. She began to feel a little uncomfortable. "Do you have a place like that too, Naru? Like where you go to just be alone?"_

 _Naru looked at her and then out the window before answering. "I suppose."_

 _Mai didn't know how to respond to the vague answer so she took looked out the window as well, taking in the beauty of the calm evening. The wind gently blew the trees around ever so slightly, the color of the leaves changed with the season, the sun began to set in the distance. If it weren't for the nagging feeling of anxiety in the back of her mind, she would have been completely at ease._

 _She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of clinking china coming over to the table, Tamayuki-san stood there, smiling, tray in hand. "Alright, here you are Mai," he said placing a white teacup in front of her, then a grey one in front of Naru. "And you, my boy."_

 _"Thank you.", Mai said with a beaming smile._

 _"Anything to see that smile on your face Mai-chan." The older man said before walking away leaving the two alone again._

 _Mai poured a small amount of cream into her tea and raised the cup to her mouth, savoring the delicious flavor combination. She closed her eyes and smiled. It was amazing._

 _She looked up at Naru who had his eyes closed._

 _"So? Is it as good as always?" she asked expectantly. "It's always better when someone with experience like Tamayuki-san brews it."_

 _He still didn't open his eyes. "It's fine."_

 _Mai furrowed her brow in disappointment. "Oh."_

 _"Perhaps I'm not accustomed to having someone other than yourself make my tea," he replied after a pause. "No two people are alike."_

 _Mai contemplated whether or not that was compliment, but she chose to smile anyway. She noticed that he was looking down at her cup. "What? Is something wrong with my cup?" She picked it up and turned it, inspecting the small thing in fear that she had broken it somehow, but didn't see any discrepancies._

 _"You must come here often for that man to know what you buy off by heart."_

 _Mai's eyes widened, and she grinned playfully. "You want to know what kind I got, don't you?"_

 _Naru's eyes closed once again as he spoke. "It was simply an observation."_

 _Mai knew that he was curious as to what she bought, but it was rare for her to have the upper hand in their teasing so she certainly wasn't going to give it up that easily. "Well okay, I mean if you don't care that's fine. It's really good though you should try it sometime," Mai grinned. "If only you knew what it was."_

 _Naru's eyes opened slightly and he put down his cup. Mai kept on grinning though; that was until he reached across the table, picked up her cup, and moved it to his mouth to take a sip of the steaming liquid. Mai's grin dropped and her eyes widened. "H-hey! Naru!" She watched in anger as he placed the cup down in front of him. How dare he take her tea like that! After a few moments he finally spoke._

 _"Chamomile and green tea blend. Problem solved."_

 _Mai's face turned red with anger and she reached across the table and grabbed his cup and took a drink of his in retaliation. She grimaced at the bitter taste before forcing herself to swallow it._

 _"Ew! Naru how can you drink black tea plan like that! It's so bitter!" She would never understand how he would drink several cups a day like that._

 _Naru retaliated. "It's very similar to your current attitude."_

 _Mai's face got even more red. "Asshole."_

 _She noticed the smirk ghosted on his lips as he took another sip of her tea._

 _"Hey cut it out! If you like it that much buy your own!"_

Mai was crying harder.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ayee, here ya go, new chapter hot off the presses. By the way sorry in advance, Mai-chan.**

 _Mai : It's okay, it's just a story, and besides I know you still love me more than Naru._

 **True, he's a total bag of dicks.**

 _Mai : *giggles* I'm totally calling you that from now on Naru!_

 _Naru : We may be fictional, but I can still embarrass you to no end. Choose your actions wisely._

 **Ahh calm down Weiner-chan, it was only a joke. Anyway, forgot to mention this before, but Mai, Naru, and any other characters from Ghost Hunt that may happen to be in this story belong to their wonderful creator and I do not take credit for them. Any random OCs are mine.**

 **Okay, enjoy, and pleaaaaase lemme know what you're thinking so I'm not wasting anybody's time here okay?**

* * *

Mai knew exactly what she was going to do and nothing was going to stop her.

She didn't care about anything anymore. She didn't care about being alone, she didn't care about losing SPR, she didn't care about school, or work, or sleep, or even herself. All of it seemed so meaningless. What was the point in keeping up appearances for a life she didn't even enjoy living in? The answer, was that there really wasn't. So she continued on with a consistent, but slightly unstable pace until she had finally reached her final destination.

The tall building in front of her loomed overhead as the moon illuminated it from behind. She could make out the two stories of the small structure, but Mai's eyes were focused on the upper of the two. This was the dreaded place where she had spent a majority of her high school years. The place where she gained a family she never before had, and where she lost that family in just two short years. Mai's chest began to hurt and she realized she was holding her breath. She released it and walked towards the stairs that lead to the upper floor. The ground floor wasn't really anything of interest, since the title above the door had changed constantly throughout the time she worked at Shibuya Psychic Research, and even now read a name she had never seen before. Mai gripped the metal railing tightly for support, knowing that her legs weren't going to entirely cooperate with her, and ascended the flight of stairs. The familiarity of it all was overwhelming and Mai could feel her heart pounding away nervously.

As she managed to get to the top stair, Mai let go of the railing and slowly walked over to the now nameless door. The words that had once been there had faded off entirely months ago, and then had been painted over as if her past had never existed. Mai slowly traced her fingers over where small, black letters used to spell out the name of the first company she had ever worked for. She noticed that her hand was trembling, but she refused to believe that it was due to anything more than the chilly autumn breeze.

Mai dropped her hand back to her side and walked over to a nearby window, which gave a direct view into the building. It was rather dark inside, but she could remember every nook and cranny of the place as if she had just been in there yesterday. As she leaned on the glass to get a better view inside, she was rather surprised when it shifted under her weight. The window opened inward, causing Mai to topple forward and left her laying halfway over the frame. Now, for a sober person, getting out of the predicament she was in would not have been that difficult, but being in the drunken state that she currently was, she struggled a good bit. Mai tried to push herself back in an upright position by pushed up on the wall, but her hand had slipped and the weight of her upper body pulled her down. Mai landed rather ungracefully, as expected of a drunk. Her arms had broken her fall, but she had smacked her knees off the hard ground, undoubtedly bruising them. Nevertheless, she grabbed onto the windowsill and pulled herself into a standing position, determined to explore the empty office. The first thing she noticed was the crinkle of plastic beneath her feet, and she glanced down to see that the entire floor was covered in a clear painter's tarp. Cans of paint were tucked away in the corner nearest to the door and she noticed the two toned walls. They were renovating the office into a place she didn't recognize. It was clearly not a finished job, however the smell of paint and the unfamiliar look of the place made a wave of anxiety spread through her core. They were getting rid of her past.

Mai looked around the room and felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia. When she fell, she had landed in the sitting room where the team would meet with clients and have light hearted conversations. It had since been emptied and stripped of the carpeting, but was as same as she could remember. From where she was standing she could see straight back into the rest of the office, all the way down to the empty kitchen. Turning to look behind her, Mai instantly recognized the view she had from the window she'd fallen through.

Despite the low stature of the building, the window from the sitting room had a truly beautiful view of the trees and hills just beyond the town. She could see the sun rising in the distance and vaguely realized it must be early morning now. People would soon be getting up to go to their jobs, much unlike her. When she worked for SPR, Mai would often look out this window whenever she needed see something to clear her mind. Naru had caught her one day when she was in a particularly bad mood and promptly reprimanded her for not working. But despite how she had usually responded to the boy by calling him a heartless jerk, she simply ignored him and continued staring, and when she finally turned around she realized he was gone. That was a few days before he had announced that he and Lin were leaving, and SPR was to be disbanded. She wished she hadn't ignored him.

Mai continued to stare out the window and came to realize that now she hadn't gotten a single feeling of relief from the view. She turned away dejectedly, but somehow already knew that nothing was going to spark her once profound motivation to find beauty in things again.

She looked back down the hall and struggled to make it to the first door, but Mai's persistence overruled her intoxicated body. She turned the knob and to her surprise it opened with ease. She felt around for the light switch, eventually finding it, but realizing that there was no power running to the upper floor. They more than likely cut it off when nobody decided to move in. Mai pulled out her cell phone and turned on the flashlight instead. The sight before her made her eyes well up with tears. The empty room was a sordid reminder of memories of her bringing tea and filing folders of paperwork. She could still picture where the wooden desk sat, and where the quiet, dark haired boy sat behind it.

Mai rubbed at her eyes, angry at the fact that she was wasting tears on someone who couldn't give a shit less about her. What was the point in being upset about a problem that would never get resolved? She knew that no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't change what had happened between them. Mai understood that her feelings were selfish considering that everything that had happened between them was her fault, but she couldn't get rid of the horrible feelings screaming inside her. She did managed to stop the tears however, and she figured that was better than anything.

She gave one last somber look around the room, then slowly turned around and pulled the door shut behind her. She continued down the hall to the next room and noticed that the door was missing altogether. She hadn't the faintest idea why it would be gone, but Mai gave it little thought and continued into the small office. Mai had never been in Lin's office much, but she had occasionally brought him reports and what not when the man's boss was out, so she had a fair recollection of the room. The first thing that had popped into her mind was the Chinese decor that the older man had skillfully placed around the room as so it wasn't overwhelming, but noticeable enough to take in. Lin had an old Chinese scrawl the hung on a nail behind his desk that he had told her belonged to his parents. She specifically remembered the green paper that Chinese characters were printed on, and for some reason she missed it terribly. Mai smiled faintly at the thought of Lin opening up to her finally, but the smile faded when she realized that that too, was around the time they had left for England. She supposed he did it out of pity. She looked down at her feet, feeling stupid for thinking he actually wanted to become friends. She turned around to travel to the next room.

Turning away from the door, Mai followed the straight shot to the kitchen. It was here that she felt the strongest pain. It might have seemed meaningless to anyone else, but the room had always belong to Mai. She was always in here making tea for customers or her boss and the rest of the team. Back when it was stocked up completely Mai knew where everything was and where everything belonged. When she had reached her final day in the office Mai had traveled to the kitchen and taken every single box of tea left in there out of spite. Later on though, she had realized it was partly due to her aggravating need to have something to remember the important part of her life by. To this day, she still had the last box of Earl Grey tea sitting in her kitchen cabinet.

Mai went numb when she realized she would never end up drinking that box. She leaned against the wall and put her hand in her pocket and felt something round brush her fingertips. Pulling the object out, she could hear the rattle of pills and nearly forgotten why she'd actually come here. Mai didn't come to reminisce or sight see, she just came to kill herself. That very reason was now filling her mind and chest with yearning and desperation, and Mai knew she could no longer put it off. After everything she'd just seen, remembered, and felt, the idea was increasingly tempting.

She wandered over to the sink and turned on the faucet. She hadn't expected the water to come on, so when it did she was thankful she wasn't going to have to choke to death while trying to dry swallowing the little things. Oh, what would be the irony.

At first, Mai struggled to open the bottle, but she eventually got the safety cap to unlock and dropped it on the floor by her feet. She opened her other hand and poured some of the little white pills in her palm. There were a lot of them and she knew that there would be no going back from this, but Mai did not want to stop.

"Fuck it."

She put her hand to her mouth and took all of the pills into her mouth and swallowed. She could feel them sticking to the roof of her mouth and the back of her throat, and she leaned under the still running faucet to take several gulps of water. She repeated this process two or three more times until the bottle was empty and her sweatshirt was soaked. She chuckled cynically, before feeling her stomach turn and doubling over in pain. She felt an overwhelming sense of nausea and could tell she was becoming dangerously close to passing out. She half collapsed to the floor and slid down the rest of the way against the counter, leaning against it mostly limp. Whether it was due to the pills or the alcohol, she didn't know, nor did she care. All she knew was that she was going to leave all of her pain and suffering behind. Even if it was the coward's way out, Mai didn't particularly care at this point.

Everything was going numb and her body buzzed with adrenaline, panicked at the large amount of drugs in her system. Her vision was began to blur and the weight of what she had just done hit her, and yet she still was not afraid. She did not feel regret, she did not feel remorse, she didn't even feel guilty for causing whoever found her in a few hours probable trauma. She didn't feel anything. Her mind, body, and world were fading out and her hands slid off her thighs to the ground next to her. Mai's half open eyes looked out of the window across the office for the last time, before the view of the sunrise was obscured by something and faint noises sounded in the distance. Her eyes slid shut and Mai smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yo yo, here ya go. Kinda a short one but I felt it was better of by itself. Mai you're really starting to scare some readers here.**

 _Mai:_ _I'm sorry, but it's not really my fault! You're the one writing it after all._

 **Yeah you're right but still you're doing a very good job freaking them out! I'm so proud *ruffles her hair***

 _Mai: Ahh stop it! I get enough of that from Bou-san!_

 **Heh couldn't help it, you're just so awesome.**

 _Mai: Hah! Hear that Naru? I'm awesome._

 _Naru: If by awesome she means exceedingly good at goofing off and not doing your job, then yes, I suppose you could be considered 'awesome'._

 _Mai: We aren't even in the Ghost Hunt universe right now! I don't have to listen to you...Weiner-chan..._

 _Naru: You're fired._

 _Mai:_ _AW COME ON. IT WAS A JOKE NARU._

 ***clears throat* Anyway, I don't own Ghost Hunt or these two bozos, but I do own the story. Pleaaaaase review it really makes me happy seeing them! Okay well enjoy!**

* * *

 _The first thing that she realized was that the world around her did not feel real. Mai's body felt like it was floating through a thick, dense fog, unable to move or breathe. Typically, the notion would scare the shit out of her, but now she found a sense of serenity in the feeling. Truthfully, she loved it. The feeling may have been odd, but Mai felt completely calm; no sadness, no anxiety, and definitely no pain._

 _She had only vaguely remember the details leading up to what she had done, but she didn't regret it in the least. She knew that she wasn't strong enough to deal with her problems, and that eventually she'd let them grow so large they would end up killing her anyway, so why not remove the issue on her own? It was up to her to swallow a bottle of pills, and she really did believe that it was a better way to go out than having her problems take her forcefully away. At least this way it was her choice._

 _Yeah, Mai had regrets, but they were things that she would never be able to fix, so what was the point in letting them try to drag her down farther than she already was? She had already been at rock bottom when the suicidal thoughts began and she was not getting any better. People always said things would change; that they'd get better in time, but Mai knew better than to let herself actually believe that. She wanted to grasp at the notion with all her might; hold on to it in desperation, but what was the point in the end? She was just going to have her hope ripped away from her by yet another inconvenience. She wouldn't let the world hurt her like that again. She had so many things ripped away from her, and most of the time it was her fault, but she still tried to hold on to them foolishly. In the end, what was gone, was gone, and she had absolutely no power to change the fact. She simply lost the urge to care._

 _Drifting through the haze around her Mai began to notice the strange noises. She was confused at first, because it sounded like an alarm clock, but she knew it wasn't a school morning and that she wouldn't be waking up for it. She tried to focus her mind on the sound, but the second she would it would disappear, then when she would give up, it would come back. If she was going to hell for what she did, this was definitely it. She decided to ignore it, but the noise became increasingly louder until it was beginning to frighten her. It repeated relentlessly until she wanted to scream, an unknown fear encasing her entirely._

 _Mai felt the haze around her become thinner and her body felt heavier, being weighed down by whatever was happening. The beeping stopped then things suddenly became unbelievably bright._

 _Mai winced again at the harsh light realizing it was unnaturally bright, but somehow it spread a warmth throughout her entire being. Was this it? Was this the white light she had heard about from TV shows and people who had near death experiences? She wanted to run towards the sight of final freedom, but found that she was completely paralyzed. Her body wasn't cooperating with her mind and Mai started to panic. She was going to miss her chance to be free. She wasn't going to get to leave all of this shit behind her. She wanted to scream. She just wanted out! What was so hard about that? What the hell was so wrong with wanting to put everything behind her and move on? Even in the end, she just could not get what she wanted._

 _Mai felt her body slowly sinking down with weight, and when a different kind of light shone harshly in her eyes, she knew what was happening. She was coming back. Someone was saving her._

 _The beeps of machines and the urgent voices around her proved that her fear was true. She did her best to fight back against the efforts undoubtedly made by the doctors around her. She didn't want to come back, she wanted to stay in the haze and pass on. Mai just wanted to die in peace, she was okay with that._

 _The next thing she knew, she felt two hard objects press to either side of her chest, and then out of nowhere every muscle in her body contracted tightly. A few moments later she felt the same two spots of pressure and her body seized up once again. That time she took in a deep breath of air and began to choke when she felt vomit come rushing up her throat. She felt someone roll her on her side, and forcefully she let out a long spill of bile. Mai gagged and coughed violently until her throat was on fire and her chest burned in agony. She took several more gasps until she realized just how real everything around her was. No more haze, no more quiet. Incidentally though, there was an abundance of light. It wasn't the calming bright light she had seen a few moments before though, no, it was harsh florescent light-bulbs shining in her face._

 _Mai felt the hands back on her side as they rolled her over once more onto her back. They down to her arm and pressed two fingers to her wrist. Mai coughed again weakly and tried to ignore them, but they were suddenly saying her name over and over. Eventually, she opened her eyes enough to see tall man wearing something green standing over her. She made eye contact and heard him say something to someone else, before eventually closing her eyes and slipping into welcomed unconsciousness._


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm baaaack. Sorry about the little delay there guys, I'm in the middle of moving and my laptop was at the new place the entire time. It sucked so much. I wrote a new chapter obviously so here ya go! Like usual lemme know what you think okay? I really love all of your reviews I swear they make my day!**

 _Mai: Aww that's so sweet Author-chan!_

 **Well it's true!**

 _Naru: I believe this is what one would call "kissing ass"._

 **Oh stick it where the sun don't shine you grumpy bastard. They know how much I love them!**

* * *

Light shining. Machines beeping. People talking. People arguing. People yelling. Those were the things that finally woke Mai from her deep sleep. Hearing the vague, raised voices and the closing of her hospital room door slowly brought the young girl back to the world of the living. Her eyes stayed pressed shut, but Mai could tell that it was dark in her room; possibly even nighttime. The beeping next to her was growing monotonous as she tried her hardest to lull herself back to sleep. She didn't want to be awake anymore.

Just as she had almost drifted off, the door to her room opened and someone shuffled over to her bed. She could feel whoever it was mess around with her IV, when they had accidentally made it twist painfully, causing her jerk her arm away and wince in pain.

The hands quickly removed themselves from her arm.

"Miss Taniyama?"

The voice next to her was soft and gentle, most likely belonging to a nurse who had come in to check on her. Mai tried to ignore her, but the woman did not relent. She felt a hand gently nudge her shoulder as she heard her say her name again.

"Miss Taniyama? Are you awake?"

Mai was well aware that the facade of sleep was up, but she refused to open her eyes. She groaned slightly at the wave of nausea caused by the nurse's shaking and turned her head away from her, trying not to vomit.

The hand left her shoulder and Mai heard her footsteps rush to the door. The nurse quickly opened it and shouted something unintelligible to Mai down the hall. She heard voices coming closer, what seemed to be four of them, and what sounded like arguing, but promptly lost interest as another wave of intense nausea rolled over her.

"Is she fully conscious?" She heard an older man ask as he walked into the room, to which the nurse replied with, "She seems to be, but she won't open her eyes."

The man walked over to the bed and leaned slightly over Mai, as he put his hands on either side of her face and turned her head. She felt two fingers press under her jaw and a cold object press to her chest. Mai winced again at the feeling, to which the doctor seemed to notice as he too tried to speak to her.

"Miss Taniyama, can you hear me?" After no reply, he placed her head back down, facing it towards him and pulled her eyelid up with his thumb while shining his penlight in it. The light was intrusive and made her eye burn, so instinctively she tried to turn her head away, when she realized she had truly been caught.

"Miss Taniyama, please open your eyes, I know that you're awake," he said in a calm tone. "There is no need to pretend."

Mai still refused to open her eyes, knowing that the instant she did she would be fully back into reality, and she did not think that she was ready for that just yet. So instead she let out another low groan and turned her head away in the other direction. She was not going to give in.

The doctor sighed lightly and said to the woman she assumed to be the nurse, "Bring them in."

Mai's chest tightened. She knew exactly who was going to be walking through that door in a few seconds, and the mere thought made her stomach drop to her feet. Her throat tightened with anxiety and her mind was racing. She found herself balling her hands up in the bed sheets, praying to whatever god there was to kill her now. She couldn't handle them seeing her like this. She wasn't ready.

Sadly for Mai, God had different plans for her. She listened intently as two sets of feet walked into the room. Her fear grew ten fold. The soft sniffles of a woman turned into heavy sobs. The comforting words of a man turned into silent grief.

"M-mai?" Through broken sobs and heaves of breath, she recognized the voice instantaneously. Ayako. Mai's face contorted in internalized agony and her eyes threatened to spill over with tears. She still did not open them. She heard timid footsteps make their way to her bedside and Mai shrunk into the pillow as much as she could. A warm hand pressed itself to her cheek and she could feel it shake slightly, but she could not pull herself away.

The next voice to speak caused her heart to break even more. "Hey kiddo, it's okay, we're here." Bou-san. He was undoubtedly standing tall by Ayako's side, but Mai couldn't bring herself to face them. She felt her body begin to shake with anxiety and sadness and everything in between as she squeezed her eyes shut so hard that she was beginning to see stars.

"Mai please," Ayako said through broken sobs. "Please open your eyes. I'm begging you."

"We aren't mad at you kiddo, we promise, we just want to see you open your eyes." The man's voice breaking a bit.

"It's okay, please, Mai we just want to be here for you," Mai felt Ayako's fingers trail slowly down her cheek, barely touching her at all, as if she was fragile enough to break.

Mai couldn't handle this, and the next thing that Bou-san said was her breaking point.

"Please just look at us Mai, do you know how scared we were thinking we lost you? I don't know what we'd do without you. We love you."

With that she broke; everything came crashing down on her. The pills, the alcohol, SPR, her job, her friends, her family, school, sleepless nights; everything. Mai's eyes cracked open, but before she could even adjust to the dim light of the room, she felt tears form in them and spill over onto her cheeks. Sobs began to wrack her body, and she could hardly breathe except for the short breaths she got in between sobs. She stared off at the wall next to the bed, unwilling to look at them. She was too ashamed of herself for hurting them like this. Mai just wanted them to understand that she did this for everyone around her, but she couldn't find the words to even begin to explain her thought process. Everything would be so much easier if she wasn't around and she didn't care if that meant dying for it.

She finally looked up into Ayako's wide, red eyes and a whole new wave of emotion overcame her. Mai took in her disheveled appearance as she noticed her messy hair and makeup free face. She and Bou-san looked like they had just woken up, and the thought of the two waking up to a phone call telling them that she was in the hospital tore Mai to pieces. The guilt and the agony of it all became too much for her to handle. She couldn't help what she said next, it just spilled out of her.

"I don't want to be here," she said quietly at first, her voice cracking at the dryness of her throat, but the more Mai said, the louder she got. "I don't want to live like this, I just wanted to die, I don't want to be a burden to anyone anymore! I wanted people to stop worrying about me when I don't even want to be fucking alive! It's not fair to anyone! Why should you guys suffer just because I'm a fuck up? I don't want to make you deal with me anymore! I wish I would have just died like I was supposed to so all this would be over!"

The look of absolute horror on the priestess' face was enough to kill whatever strength Mai had left in her. The tears now pouring out of both Bou-san and Ayako's eyes were enough to drown her. The guilt she felt only fueled her desire to be dead even more.

It was silent for a moment, but Bou-san broke the silence. Mai had seen the man lose his cool on several occasions, but this was something dangerous. The angered look on his face was terrifying. Mai could tell that he had several emotions fighting against each other inside of him, but anger was the one that unfortunately manifested.

"What the _fuck_ , Mai," He said, a bit louder than he probably intended. "We love you, you are not a burden to us in the slightest bit and you know we love you like daughter! Why didn't you come to us and say something if you were feeling this bad? You know we would have been there for you! We would do anything for you!"

"B-but you have Haji to take care of a-and-" she wasn't even able to finish her sentence before he cut her off.

"Because of Haji? Did you seriously think for a second we were going to just forget about you just because we had him? Mai you are not a stupid girl so I don't have the slightest idea why in the ever loving hell you would ever think something like that!"

"Houshou-" Ayako tried to calm him down, but he wasn't having any of it.

"No, Ayako, she needs to hear this."

Mai could tell that the older man was still angry as she looked up at him with wide eyes, but his tone had settled down as he was no longer yelling.

His gaze bore into hers and Mai didn't dare to look away. "We love you, Mai. You know this. Everything we've done for you is because we love you. You are like a daughter to us. Nothing in this world would ever stop us from loving you like we do. Nothing. Not Haji, and certainly not you feeling like this."

Bou-san's face was streaked with angry tears and his fists were clenched at his sides. Seeing the display of emotion from the man made Mai felt guilty beyond belief. Tears streamed down her cheeks even harder as she struggled to catch her breath. She couldn't believe what she had done to them. How selfish could she be that she thought that they wouldn't care if she was gone? How selfish was she be to try to take her life when they had been trying so hard to keep her in theirs? She was a horrible person for hurting the two people who were nearly parents to her. They were the ones who took care of her after the group had disbanded, and this is how she repaid them. She was disgusting.

Ayako's voice pulled Mai from her thoughts. Her words were shaky, but she still managed to speak in the sincerest tone Mai had ever heard.

"Mai Taniyama. You are not, and never will be, alone. Whatever you've been feeling or thinking these past few years were not things you had to handle by yourself. We want you to be happy and in our lives forever, so we are one hundred percent dedicated to helping you stay the sweet and happy girl we met all those years ago. And no, you are not being a burden; the ones you love are never a burden. Understand that Mai. We would help you with anything if you'd just ask."

Ayako's words sent Mai into an even heavier fit of sobs and she felt the woman sit on the bed next to her. She gently caressed the side of her head with calming strokes, crying softly.

"I'm s-so s-sorry Ayako." She started, her voice not cooperating with her. She sat up a bit more than she already was and put her head in her hands. "You and B-bou-san are always there for me a-and I didn't even t-think about what this would d-do to you. I'm sorry I'm so s-sorry."

Ayako hushed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. "It's okay sweetie, it's okay. I love you so much, you mean the world to me and Houshou. We wouldn't know what to do with you."

Mai pressed her face into the soft fabric of Ayako's t-shirt and inhaled the calming scent of the woman. She gripped the back of her shirt tightly and sobbed until she was sure she had nothing left. Ayako never let go for a second, and when Bou-san sat down and held the crying pair, Mai felt even more at ease. They still loved her, after everything she did to them, they were still by her side. Even after putting them through the thought of her being dead, they wanted her in their lives. She didn't know what she did to deserve the two in her life, but she was happy as hell she had them.

* * *

None of crying trio noticed that the doctor and the nurse had left the room. The two walked down the hallway beside one another, a dark haired man joining them.

"How is she?" he said in calm, unreadable tone.

"She's awake and stable for now. The young lady was clearly severely sleep deprived; that much is evident from the 22 hour nap she just woke from. We also noticed that she is slightly malnourished, which is mostly due to the lack of sleep and amount of alcohol she had been consuming. However, I don't believe that she's been eating very well either. We'll need to give her several vitamins and supplements to help her body get back on track, but it'll still take time after she's out of here as well. She'll also need to be monitored for a few days to keep an eye out for any internal damage caused by the amount of pills she took. You're very lucky you found her when you did. A few minutes later and... well you know the consequence."

"Yes. I am well aware."

The figure stopped walking and the doctor followed suit, putting his hands in his coat pockets. The older man relieved the nurse of her assistance so she could see to her other duties, and she bowed and walked off.

The two men continued the more important part of the conversation.

"As you already know, she's a prominent threat to herself. We can't release her under a good conscious knowing that. Miss Taniyama's going to need a psychological evaluation before anything along the lines of discharge can be discussed, and she will most likely be required to stay in a psychiatric hospital for a couple of weeks. Typically, this is the response we have to these kinds of cases, as we see them all to often here," The doctor paused as he pulled his hand out of his pocket and rubbed his eyes. "It is pricey however, and judging by her credit score and lack of insurance, it would probably cause her more problems after the hospitalization than any good. I may be able to pull some strings to shorten her admission there as a way to pay you back for what you and your family did for this hospital, but it would take some time so-"

The younger man cut him off and the doctor folded his arms in patience. "There is no need. Her bills here will be paid in full and she will not be admitted to that hell hole you claim to be a psychiatric hospital. If anything, that place causes more mental issues than they fix. Where she will be staying after this has been prearranged and at no cost to her, whether she likes it or not. Thank you for your time, you have done your part." He turned to continue his way down the hallway when he briefly paused at the sound of chuckling.

The older man unfolded his arms and stuck his hands back in his pockets, a small smile on his face. "Ah same old, same old I see. Well, as you wish, but I must warn you, if she does happen to relapse, you will face some serious charges due to negligence and denial of medical help. It's not my rule, and it _is_ a tedious one, but it's what's law around here. You know how this hospital runs better than I do. considering what you-"

He was cut off once again as the younger of the two turned around to face him with with stone cold eyes. "Loaning a hospital money is hardly a reason to risk losing your job over just to pay someone back. After all loans are typically paid back in money, and that would be quite counter intuitive. So do not waste your time. I will see that her evaluation is paid for and that she will be discharged the day after tomorrow."

Turning back in the direction ahead of him, the dark haired figure continued down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. The doctor stood there, chuckling to himself. _That_ _boy,_ he thought. _I hope he knows what he's doing._

With that, he turned around and proceeded to whatever patient awaited him next.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey hey, sorry it took a couple days there, but life ya know? I'm going to apologize in advance for any typos or grammar mistakes you may find while reading this, seeing as it's currently 4:00 AM and I am _very_ tired. Don't worry if there are any though, because I will more than likely come back to the chapter in a few days and revise it even further, I just couldn't tonight but I wanted to give you guys another chapter!**

 _Naru : How lazy. I would expect more from you seeing as you're attempting to write a **good** story. Acting like an adult and revising your work would be beneficial to all of us. _

**You trying to say my work ain't good, ghost nerd? Isn't that really insulting yourself by saying you're a poorly written character? Boo yah got you there, Naru-chan.**

 _Naru_ _: Technically, you are insulting yourself considering that I'm still a figment of your imagination. I highly doubt that Mai's the one that needs psychiatric help anymore._

 **Why you little... *proceeds to whack him with a book***

 _Mai : Heh... Hi guys, while they're doing... whatever it is that they're doing, I would like to say on my wonderful author's behalf that she doesn't own us, ghost hunt, Bou-san, Ayako, or Lin! She does own Haji though, lucky... he's so cute! Anyway enjoy and thanks for any reviews you leave, she really loves them you know? Okay, have a wonderful day!_

* * *

The hours that followed her reunion with Ayako and Bou-san consisted of Mai attempting to give an explanation to the pair. She had felt horrible for everything that she had put them through over the last few hours and knew that the least she could do was give them an explanation as to why she had become the way she was.

That was easier said than done, however.

No matter how long Mai took to gather her thoughts, she could never form the correct words to help them understand how she felt. Hell, _she_ didn't even understand how she felt most of the time, so how was she supposed to explain it to other people? There was so much that tied into her state of mind that honestly, she didn't know where to begin. So slowly, Mai chose random topics that had to do with her depression. She explained how one day she had started getting less and less sleep up until the point where she would be awake for a full twenty-four hours, and then her body would crash for about four or five, and the cycle would repeat. Then came how the lack of sleep effected her at school, causing her grades to drop and earning her an endless amount of detentions. She then told them about her short lived job at the local grocery store and how she hadn't been to work in weeks. Mai had originally assumed that she'd been fired after a week or two of not showing up, until about a week ago her manager, who Mai had actually liked pretty well, left her a voicemail saying how they were worried about her and to call the store back if she needed to request some personal days. Mai didn't have the heart to call them back and ask for the days off after she'd already selfishly blown them off. So she never called back, and most likely, actually lost her job this time. That being said, it meant that she had several past due bills sitting on her kitchen table, patiently waiting to be paid even though that any hope of that happening was long gone. She had no money, no job, no friends, no school, no sleep, and not a single ounce of joy left in her once bubbly personality. She knew that telling them all this would cause them even more pain at seeing her shambles of a once stable life, but once she had started explaining she couldn't find it in her to stop. Everything had come pouring out of her in one fell swoop and Mai herself was saddened at the amount of issues that she'd let pile up in the back of her mind. When had she gotten so bad at handling her problems? She used to hunt ghosts for Christ sake, and now she couldn't even handle a little sadness? She was really becoming pathetic, and the last she wanted was anyone's pity.

Ayako and Bou-san listened to her quietly, nodding or humming in sympathy every now and then. Ayako still had with tears in her eyes, and after she had finished talking the older woman rushed over to her to embrace her once more. Mai hugged back, feeling greatly relieved that they didn't hate her because of everything that had couple had stayed with her for almost 14 hours, but the time moved quickly to Mai because of the amount of talking and reminiscing they had done together.

Originally, Mai had no clue when she had gotten up, so when Bou-san had told her that she'd woken up around three o'clock in the morning the day _after_ she had taken the pills that had meant that Mai had lost almost an entire day to sleep, not that she was going to complain. She _was_ baffled, however. She couldn't believe that she'd finally slept for once, and after almost a year of bare minimum sleep she was gifted 22 glorious hours. Mai really couldn't decide if there was a god, but if there was he'd hooked her up big time.

It had just turned five that evening when Ayako got a call from the babysitter, letting her know that she had to go to work shortly and that she was going to be late if she didn't leave soon. Mai could hear Ayako apologizing for being gone so long and told her that they would be home shortly. Admittedly, Mai was a little upset at the thought of them leaving, but she also was okay with having some time alone. She needed time to pretend none of this was real, otherwise she was going to break down again.

Ayako came back in the room and smiled softly at her before telling her husband about the phone call. As if seeking her approval, the pair both looked at her with questioning eyes, and Mai smiled lightly.

"It's okay guys, you've been here way too long already." She waved her hand in front of her as if it was no big deal. "Go home and get some sleep please, I don't want you to lose sleep over me."

Ayako looked back at Bou-san contemplatively, clearly thinking she didn't want her to be left alone, but Mai persisted.

"Really guys, it's okay. I know you're tired and I know Haji wants to see his parents, so it's really fine. Besides... I think I need some time to myself anyway."

Both adults looked at Mai, and then at each other, when reluctantly they finally agreed. "Okay, Mai, if that's what you want, we'll go," Ayako sat down on the bed next to her and put a warm hand on her cheek. "But promise me you'll call us when you're ready for us to come back, or if you need anything, alright? I mean it, we will be here so fast your head will spin."

Mai laughed softly at the saying, which brought a smile to both Ayako and Bou-san's faces.

"Ah, there's that pretty smile I've been waiting for!" Bou-san said, a smile of his own beaming on his face. "My life's been incomplete without it!"

Mai blushed, but her smile didn't falter. She really loved them.

* * *

A few hours had passed since Ayako and Bou-san's departure, and Mai had done nothing but sit in her hospital bed staring off at the wall. For some reason, nothing at the moment felt real to her. Maybe it was darkness of her room, or possibly the melatonin that the nurse had given her, but Mai felt surreal. It was as if the events of the past two days were nonexistent and nothing in her life had changed, but she knew the truth all too well. She just couldn't wrap her head around the consequences that her actions had provoked. Here she was, trapped in a hospital bed by an IV and heart monitor in the dark of her room. Mai closed her eyes and pretended that she was back at home sitting on her couch in the dark like she had done so many time before, praying that when she reopened them she would actually be there. Each time she was disappointed.

Soon enough, after enough day dreaming, the effects of the melatonin took full effect and Mai slipped off into a light doze. She was in between the realm of dreaming and reality when she thought that she had heard the door to her room click shut.

 _Just a nurse coming to make sure I'm not dead again,_ She thought to herself a bit cynically, but anticipating the uncomfortable movement of her IV that they seemed to enjoy doing every time they checked on her. When no such movement came Mai began to doze back off, but just before she was about to fall asleep she felt a cool finger move her bangs out of her face and tuck them behind her ear. Mai could feel her skin prickle at the unexpected contact but didn't dare move. Whoever it was was very delicate, and for some reason the action sent a wave of familiar comfort over her.

* * *

 _The drive from the office to the residence of Shibuya Psychic Research's newest client was certainly a long one. Usually, cases that were more than 3 hours away were not accepted by the young boss, and for the simple fact that he was not keen on wasting time nor gas on trivial things, but this case was a definite exception. The only reason that the ultimately unmoved Kazuya Shibuya had said yes to such a case was due to the astounding amount of evidence that the client had brought forward. Altogether they had procured a video of a 500 pound cabinet moving seemingly on its own, photos of a unique pattern of bruising on all 6 of the children in the house, relatives speaking foreign languages that they had no prior knowledge of beforehand, and most interestingly a video of a woman walking directly through a wall into a locked room of the house. Of course, Naru hadn't believed any of it at first, seeing as it was all circumstantial and easy enough to fake with some practice, but the determination that the husband and wife who came begging and pleading to them about the paranormal events that had been plaguing their house for months was somewhat convincing. Despite constantly telling them that he would not help, the couple simply would not take no for an answer. On top of it, when they had offered him double their going rate to just come look the place over, the dark haired boy was definitely intrigued. Of course, before they had said yes to the job, he had to ensure that all of the evidence provided was heavily scrutinized by both Lin and himself, as he was not willing to say yes just because his curiosity was piqued. He needed facts. When the evidence had come back full proof, he decided that they would take the case._

 _Currently, they were three hours into the six hour drive to the family home in the countryside, and all he could do was stare out the window. He had read over the case file several times, and all but memorized it when he became rather bored. He took in the view from the window and was thinking about nothing in particular when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Naru closed the unread folder and glanced down to his left to see the top of Mai's brunette head gently laying on the sleeve of his jacket. The girl usually fell asleep during car rides, and more often than not she would unknowingly use him as a pillow, but he would never say anything about it to her though. Despite the teasing and insults that the pair traded on a daily basis, he knew that the moment he mentioned her habit she would do her best to stop, which was something that he didn't want in the least. He didn't know why, but for some reason the light scent of her shampoo and the soothing warmth of her body put him at ease. That was the other reason he would never tell her; he could never let her know the effect that she had over him. Had it been anyone else, he would have been increasingly annoyed at the consistent contact, so why she was any different? She was just any ordinary girl after all. Wasn't she?_

 _Her auburn hair spread over her face and neck, moving rhythmically with her breath. He could feel her gentle breathing blow across his hand as he moved it up to her bangs, brushing them back behind her ear so they weren't falling in her face. She looked content enough, but he noticed the dark circles under her eyes and briefly wondered why she looked so tired. Considering that she was always asleep at her desk or in the base when they were on cases, it didn't make much sense, but the thought was quickly dropped as he felt his own tiredness catch up to him. Naru looked back out the window and rested his chin in his hand, closing his eyes and quickly dozing off into a catnap as well._

 _Unbeknownst_ _to him, the man behind the driving wheel had a faint smile playing on his lips._


End file.
